Four people dead in Ecuador earthquake

View of a dust cloud on August 12, 2014 in Quito, after a 5.1-magnitude earthquake rattled the Ecuadoran capital and the surrounding area causing buildings and homes to shake violently.

Four people were killed after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck outside Ecuador's capital of Quito, the local government said. Citizens were told to stay alert due to possible aftershocks.

“We have to lament the death of four people,” Quito Mayor Mauricio Rodas told reporters. Yesterday, the registered number of diseased was two.

Two of the casualties were workers in a Chinese business that served the local Municipality. Another one died in a health centre but has not been identified yet. The fourth victim is a minor.

A local television station reported yesterday that people had been trapped by landslides in the area of a quarry north of Quito.

Social media showed images of dust clouds that had formed outside the city after the tremor as result of shifting earth.

"We could really feel it. The first thing I did was leave (the building) with my colleagues," said Teresa Salazar, 45, who works at an imports business in northern Quito. "There was nothing major to report but we were all very nervous."

The US Geological Survey said the moderate quake was only 4.8 miles (7.7 km) deep, with its epicenter located 14 miles northeast of Quito, a city of some 1.6 million inhabitants.